Originally posted by Fencer51
We desperately need the KI-43 and the Betty. Those fill huge holes in the planeset for scenarios.
Oscar would be a bit nimbler than the existing A6M's, but it only had two be-be guns 2x 12.7mm x 250 rpg, or 1 x 12.7mm and 1 x 7.7mm. It was also must more fragile than the Zeke. Too easy to kill, if the pilot his-self didn't fold the wings on it while maneuvering hard. If we were seeing additional planes at a faster rate, sure, it would be a challenge to fly in War Arenas, but as planes as few and far between, this one fall way down on the list. Wouldn't the
Ki 44 Shoki/Tojo or the very short legged
Mitsubishi J2M "Raiden" be more interesting additions to Japanese set?
Betty would just be an easier to light on fire, slower (over 70mph slower), weaker bomber than the current Ki-67. HTC will probably avoid the Betty to avoid all the whines for the
G6M1 Heavy Fighter "gunstar" option as well... and only 30 of those were made.
Could they "fill holes" for scenarios? Sure, but you'd have to find enough pilot's willing to fly those "gimped" rides in the first place. Axis sides usually fall short on numbers in most SEA events as things stand now.... situation would only get worse if they were stuck in even lower performing planes. Trying to even sides is usually a PITA for folks running a SEA walk-on event.
I also put a lot less stock in "filling holes" in historical plane sets than in adding planes that are different than what we have now and can add content or be fun: perkable 'Vader, Italian G.55, P-39 in Russian plane set, Judy for blue water set, FlaK36 for GVr's, He177 for German heavy buff ride.
Originally posted by Noir
need a Pe-8 !
BTW I won't fill your hole 
Less than 100 Russian Heavy Bomber
Pe-8's ever made. Russians did not get into strategic bombing in a big way until after WWII. In what possible situation would we "need" the Pe-8 ? The He-177 I could see, but not the Pe-8.
Originally posted by Angus
P63. The last mass produced single engined fighter of MA quality that still is not here in AH?
Nearly 3/4 of which were sent to Russia to be used by Lend Lease agreement in their Far Eastern territories. American P63's were used as trainers and in gunnery practice. Outside of officially going up against Japanese planes in and around Korea, and unofficial actions against German planes (against Lend Lease agreement), there is not a lot of operational information and history to go with. Soviets continued to fly P-63's up through the Korean War (some reported given to North Korea at that time).
I'd much rather see the
P39Q which had much more operational history to satisfy the "purists" among the players, and it would be available MW, but I could live with the King Cobra added to the game.
Originally posted by VansCrew1
WOOHOO DT's ,and the P39 was not a Russian fighter,the Americans produced it and gave them to the Russians because they lacked a high alt fighter.The Americans use the P39 in the pacific front so you cant say it's a Russian fighter. simply put the mig's or more yaks would be better to see then the P39.
It was produced by America, but the Russians put it to far better use. And the P-39 was definitely
not a good high altitude fighter, which is why American and British forces didn't use it in Europe and gave most of them to the Russians. As a low to mid level fighter, the P-39 does very well (which is where much of the LW fighting is anyways. Americans' used whatever they had in the early part of the Pacific war, but as soon as they could replace P-39's with other "suitable" planes, they did so, and the rest spent time in secondary areas and as trainers.
P-39's and later P63's were a sizable chunk of the Russian VVS, so if added to the game, I believe it should be with their plane set as a nod to Sasha (second highest scoring allied ace of the war and flying P-39's) and Lend Lease.
Originally posted by Karnak
Scenarios is what I am referring to.
Bluntly, the P-39 does not actually fill many scenario holes as it's service was almost universally parallel to the P-40. It adds depth to our coverage.
It does not begin to fill holes like the Ki-43, G4M2, I-16-24, Yak-1, DB-3, Pe-2, Do217E/Ju188A or Wellington Mk III do.
P-39 was a major contributor to the Russian front as low to mid level air superiority fighter. It excelled in Russian service. I could see a scenario pitting VVS La-5's, Yak-9T's, IL-2's, Pe-2, and P-39N/Qs against German counterparts. Be more fun than underarmed Oscars, easy-to-kill Betty', mid-1930's Russian torpedo planes, or yet another EW twin engine medium bomber. Yak-3 would be a better addition than the Yak-1. Pe-2 would be a nice add to Russian plane set to compliment IL-2's.
Scenarios are fun, but underrepresented by the community. The best walk-on scenarios I've been in are fighters or fighter-attack planes facing off. The one's with buffs, dive bombers, and the like usually have a harder time getting the sides even and pilots in the right planes by percentage.
As new plane additions are few and far between, I can't see justifying the work and effort being made on planes to "fill holes" for scenario use over additions to content in the game that are different from much of what we do have now, and that can add to the fun in War Arenas.
P-39Q would be like having a Pony-B with a spud gun attached, and performing very well at low altitudes.
